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Two years ago, everything went up in flames for Top Gear’s post-Jeremy Clarkson reboot, with manic new host Chris Evans quitting hours after the final broadcast (taking his scary blue jumper with him). Fast forward to 2018 and the BBC’s biggest cash-cow was once again crashing and burning before our eyes.

The difference was that this time the pyrotechnics were entirely car-related. Chris Harris’s slinky Alpine A110 had developed a fault on a bend in Monte Carlo and was soon snorting fire like a dragon on Game of Thrones.

Though obviously a slightly worrying experience for Harris and co-driver Eddie Jordan, the incident made for spectacular television – a telling contrast with Richard Hammond’s accident on the latest Grand Tour season, which was barely caught on camera. Here are the rest of the talking points.

“It’s on fire…get out,” commented the presenter as his Alpine A110 stuttered to a halt along a scenic Monte Carlo mountain pass. Out he and co-driver Eddie Jordan (of Grand Prix supremo fame) jumped, seconds before the car transformed into an impressive, but actually quite terrifying, fireball.

Nobody was injured and a statement was read from the manufacturer explaining the Alpine was a prototype and that “robust” measures had been taken to ensure similar incidents did not occur in future. But golly it was frightening watching an automobile go from zero to shrieking inferno in a few seconds. Back in studio, Matt LeBlanc joked about how difficult it is to get the temperature right in a car, though nobody appeared to be laughing. The moral is to never drive something that sounds like it was named after a brand of Seventies muesli.

2. Was this the dullest episode of the season?

It’s a strange thing to say about an hour of motoring-based reportage that included a £50,000 coupe literally exploding before our eyes – but this was otherwise a bit of a ho-hum dispatch. LeBlanc and company compared new SUVs against the Downton-esque backdrop of Burghley House in Cambridgeshire and comedian Jason Manford popped around to share a disgusting story about a roadside emergency (as he rambled you could see LeBlanc turn puce in real time). It added up to a pleasant road-trip rather than the breathless dash towards the finish line for which petrolheads may have pined.

3. But did it matter?

After a solid series, Top Gear had earned the right to sign-off in slightly underwhelming fashion. This has been the year LeBlanc, Harris and Rory Reid have taken their onscreen chemistry to the next level, bromantically speaking. Yet even as they have done so, they’ve steered the show in a direction distinct from that of their petrolhead predecessors – as best demonstrated by Harris’ non-ironic valentine to the Citroën 2CV. That would never have been allowed on Planet Jezza.

LeBlanc, for his part, has shed his previous woodenness while he and his co-presenters seem to be genuinely having a lark. How they ribbed each other this week over their rival SUVs and, even more so, Reid’s statement jacket, covered in stickers that said things like “kick me”. It’s entirely possible that it’s all for the cameras and that they’re far more distant off screen – but it feels authentic, which is all that counts.

4. The Burghley House segment was silly but fun.

Matt LeBlanc in an Alfa Romeo Stelvio, competing in a cross-country raceCredit:
BBC

The episode had started with LeBlanc reviewing the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, the manufacturer’s first foray into SUV territory. He liked it and was about to deliver his final sign off – complete with wind machine and lady playing cello – when up rocked Harris in a Volvo XC60, the 4x4 much beloved by waxed jacket types with bucketloads of kids. As they debated the contrasting merits of their vehicles, Reid rumbled into view in a Range Rover Velar. “What’s up gangsters?” he inquired, supplementing the street banter with a jacket covered in provocative phrases such as “Leave Me Alone” and “Don’t Touch” (“I’m happy with that,” said Harris of the latter).

5. Merry jinks ensued…

Three mid-range SUVs and a 16th-century country house could mean only one thing. The team would race around a show-jumping style course, each lugging a horse-box within which was strapped an equine piñata. Hilarity ensued as LeBlanc’s trailer developed a mind of its own, Reid spent forever affixing his to the Velar’s tow-bar and – in an intimation of what was to follow in Monte Carlo – Harris’s vehicle suffered a debilitating fault (having belly-flopped into a paddling pool).

6. ...And there was the inevitable Top Gear wacky race

Later, they negotiated a zany obstacle course around Burghley, with LeBlanc in the unfancied Alfa placing first. By that point, Harris had replaced the clapped-out Volvo with upgraded XC60 D5 edition, which he proceeded to similarly wreck. In the studio LeBlanc pointed out that, factoring in the flaming Alpine A110, Harris had “murdered” three cars in one episode – qualifying him for the title of automotive serial killer.

7. Are there too many comedians on Top Gear now?

Remember when Top Gear attracted a-listers such as Will Smith and Ed Sheeran? This year, the Star In A Reasonably Fast Car segment has been the almost exclusive preserve of mid-tier chuckle merchants. On the heels of Lee Mack, Dara Ó Briain and Ed Byrne, week six welcomed madcap Manc Jason Manford. He was good value as he described his progress from driving a pointy Citroën ZX to a Volkswagen Sharan people carrier. But was he one comedian too many? In 2019, how about some genuinely famous types instead?

8. Will we get a Christmas special in 2018?

“That’s it for tonight – we’ll be back later in the year,” said LeBlanc before the credits rolled. His 24-month contract ends with the latest series – but the expectation is that he will return (“If they will have me back, I am knocking on that door”). With that in mind, might the tradition of the Christmas Special be revived – and this time without Jeremy Clarkson enraging half of Argentina?